In search of Kendall. ANyone know about any quality issues since their buyout?

[chrisp]

I have been calling around looking for Kendall. No one seems to sell it near me (RI). Seems that when Kendall was purchased by their current owner several of the retail locations fell by the wayside.

Some of the ex-retailers in my area attribute their desire to no longer sell it because of qulaity problems and some attribute it to more of a business decision (Kendall became hard to deal with).

Do any of you have any thoughts or experience with this? If it's business that's understandable and I will keep searching. If it's quality related then maybe Kendall isn't what it used to be.

[Targa Dude]

First of all.. Kendall is not the run of the Mill oil.. and you will be hard pressed to find it at most chain auto part stores..Kragen, Pep Boys so on. Try speed shops, Porsche parts houses and Performance shops.
As for quality issues I think it's an over reaction to the dye being removed from the original formula. And as for as I'm concerned it's still the best oil for my P-car..nuff said..

Jorge (Targa Dude)

[KTL]

Good question.

My local Pep Boyz used to carry Kendall. Not anymore.

I always thought the green stuff was cool and the name has been around the racing circle for a long time.

Somebody's gotta know what's up with Kendall. I can't imagine the retailers honestly being concerned about quality. The only thing most of them give a crap about is costs.

[RickM]

Chrisp,

Try calling Ocean State Oil Inc.
1339 Davisville Road
North Kingstown, RI 02852
800-554-4557
401-295-0996

Also you may have luck by going to their site an inquiring.
http://www.kendallmotoroil.com/

[john walker's workshop]

they just removed the dye, not the quality. it's because they dropped their other line of oil, which the green dye differentiated it from, according to my salesman, so it was redundant. i've used it for over 30 years with no problems.

[KTL]

Thanks for the link Rick.

Here's the Kendall bulletin on the green dye issue if anybody cares.

GT-1 Reformulation Product Bulletin

[chrisp]

I did already call the recommended "marketers" as they list them, with Ocean State being one. Ocean State no longer distributes Kendall, that was the start of my search and my concerns.

I am a little puzzled as to why such an upscale oil (that is priced within arms reach of regular oils) is hard to find. With such a loyal audience, a solid product, and a great reputation you would think they could market the hell out of that stuff. It's their choice whether to reduce quality and they don't have to reduce quality to sell more product.

By the way, the next closest distributor couldn't even tell me who sold the stuff in all of Rhode Island or Southern Mass (two markets they distribute to). Kendall has a huge distribution opportunity/problem in front of them.

Thanks for everyone's input and thoughts.

[Superman]

I am still skeptical. I have loved Kendall for a long time, and dye or no dye I have associated the green tint with high quality oil in other brands besides Kendall. Now that the green color is gone, I am disappointed. Perhaps irrationally, though, since the "bulletin" seems to outline some excellent characteristics.

Nevertheless, the "bulletin" was written by Kendall, and it admits that many changes have recently been made to this oil besides the green dye change. When companies reformulate stuff, they usually do not increase the costs of the components. Usually, "reformulation" means using cheaper additives.

But I'm going to remain open to the possibility that Kendall has done nothing to decrease the performance of their GT-1 oil. I'll close by saying that Kendall GT-1 has been, for many many years, at least one of the best motor oils if not THE best oil available. In my experience, it has been the favorite of the MX and MC crowd and if it can protect a 10,000 rpm, 8 cubic inch motor that makes 70 horsepower and runs hard in dusty conditions or worse, then it can protect our engines too.

[john walker's workshop]

supe, try USDA green dye #1. along with the gold color of the oil, it should appear very close to the original green. always glad to help out.

[kcope]

I use it in my Triumphs. Last I knew Auto Zone had it.

[Superman]

Conspiracy theories aside, "they" probably have a file on you too, John. Okay, okay. I give up. It's probably just as good as the green stuff. I'll admit another thing. One of my favorite characteristics of good oil is that it does NOT coat all the internal engine parts with burnt wax. The bulletin seems to promise that Kendall will still not do that.

So, okay. Kendall is (not the same stuff it was before but.....) just as good as it always was.

Newer is occasionally better. Not usually, but in this case I'll stipulate to that. Just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get me.

[KTL]

Originally posted by kcope
I use it in my Triumphs. Last I knew Auto Zone had it.

My AutoZone switched from Kendall to Exxon Superflo. Heck, if Cole Trickle uses it? Must be good!

Actually, Exxon Superflo is a quality oil. Probably not as highly regarded as Kendall, but good nonetheless.

[Kmatts]

Been using Kendall since Walker first put it in my car 5 years ago. Available at many places here in the Seattle area.
http://www.action-auto.com/
they've always been good to me.
Kyle.

[rfuerst911sc]

Here in Orlando the Kendall oil is available at Auto Zone parts stores-last time I bought 20w50 it was $1.59 a quart.

[kwikt 911]

I use buy it at Discount Auto here in Jacksonville. Since they recently changed their name to Advanced Auto they no longer carry Kendal oil. So now I'm using Valvolene 20/50 Racing oil and am quite pleased with it.


Kevin
72 911T/E

[feelyx]

Go to your local True Value Hardware.. Not an ACE hardware, and should be on the shelf.. if not, have them order it out of their catalog... I pass by pallets of this stuff everyday.
Tim in Sac

[jmohn]

For anyone who's interested. When I was looking for a "readily available" oil to use in my SC (Kendall is available locally here, but you really have to go looking for it), I remembered an oil I had "passed by" for my previous 951 (I used synthetic in that, those turbos get HOT). So I decided to use "Shell Rotella T" (non-synthetic) 15w-40. It's readily available all over the country (every truck stop carries it), it comes in gallon containers and is reasonably priced. I know it's thought of as a diesel oil but it's actually a very high quality multi-use oil, it meets current service requirements for both diesel and gasoline engines. If you research motor oil service requirements you'll find that diesel service requirements are much more stringent than gasoline service requirements and this oil meets both. I'm not alone in this, search the archives (or the Web) I'm sure you'll find other favorable references to this oil.

I don't own any stock in Shell Oil, I don't care if you use Rotella or not, I'm just trying to point out a reasonable alternative to trying to find some of these popular, but less readily available, oils.

Good luck,

Jerry M
'78 SC

[kepperly]

Thanks for all of the board that chimed in on my earlier thread regarding Bruce Andersons recommendation of Kendal and a special thanks to KTL for posting the link to the reformulation
announcement. The "grade" if I recall correctly that was rec'd
by Bruce was the 20w50 and the reason for Kendal besides being a very good oil was it has a high concentration of Zinc which enhances it thermal tranfer properties. Great thread guys and a special thanks to John Walker for Chimming in.

Kieht Epperly --87 slant nose carrera cabriolet !

[89911]

My father in law worked for Kendall Oil in Bradford PA for more then 40 years. They were sold there to Amalie and since then, another name change has occured. I am not sure if Kendall is produced in other areas of the country, but it may explain the lack of availbility.

[jmohn]

I think you'll find the addition of "zinc" is meant as an anti-wear or anti-scuffing agent (although it may facilitate heat transfer also, I have no info on that); too much zinc, though, will cause deposits and foul the plugs.

Jerry M
'78 SC